February 28
Vinicio Pacheco, Radio Sonora, ATTACKED, THREATENED
Pacheco, a reporter with the radio station Radio Sonora, was abducted in the center of Guatemala City by unidentified men who forced him into their vehicle. Pacheco, who covers the judicial system for his station, was freed only after being beaten and tortured for several hours. His captors blindfolded him and burnt him with cigarettes, and they played recordings of his reports on a wave of car thefts, kidnappings and drug trafficking. Before he was released several miles outside of Guatemala City, they slashed his feet. According to Radio Sonora's director, Eduardo Mendoza, the captors held a gun to Pacheco's head and told him, “The only reason we won't kill you is so that you will give this message to other journalists.” In a letter to President Alvaro Arzu, CPJ called on the government of Guatemala to order an investigation into the incident and to bring those responsible to justice. Three weeks after his abduction, Pacheco left Guatemala for Costa Rica due to continuing threats directed at Radio Sonora.

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May 15
José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, ATTACKED
Zamora, former editor in chief of the independent daily Siglo Veintiuno and a recipient of CPJ's 1995 International Press Freedom Award, was dining at a Guatemala City restaurant when unidentified assailants in a moving vehicle threw two grenades at his car parked out front. One exploded, damaging the car. The assailants, two men and a woman, escaped. Two days prior to the attack, Zamora had resigned as editor in chief of Siglo Veintiuno over conflicts with the board of directors. Zamora told CPJ that he believes the attack was intended to deter him from launching another newspaper in Guatemala. He also believes that the attack was a warning to his yet-to-be-named successor at Siglo Veintiuno. In a letter to Guatemala's President Alvaro Arzú, CPJ expressed its deep concern about the incident and urged Arzú to ensure that the police conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.

For more information contact americasweb@cpj.org